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AZ Senators playing games and promoting international conflicts

by on Nov. 29, 2010, under Arizona, Capitalism, Congress, corporatists, jobs, John McCain, Jon Kyl

“John McCain never met a war he didn’t like.”

This phrase was repeated several times during the recent election. Stories on The Hill blog and today’s Arizona Daily Star prove that slogan to be right. From The Hill:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) argued in an interview Sunday that the U.S. has not exacted enough pressure on North Korea and that the current tensions in the region may present an opportunity for regime change.

“I think it’s time we talked about regime change in North Korea,” he said, quickly adding that he did not mean “military action.”

Yeah, right, he’s not talking about “military action”. How else do you accomplish “regime change?” McCain goes on to chide China– a diplomat, he’s not.

“We’ve got to understand that China is not what we want it to be, but is not playing a responsible role on the world stage, much less on the Korean Peninsula,” McCain said. “They [China] could bring the North Korean economy to its knees if they wanted to. And I cannot believe that the Chinese should, in a mature fashion, not find it in their interest to restrain North Korea. So far, they are not.”

“We have to make adjustments to our policies,” he said of China, calling it the “key” to keeping peace.

China has called for the renewal of the six-party talks, which would involve the U.S., Japan, Russia, and North and South Korea.

Not to be outdone in the saber-rattling category, Arizona’s other senator, Jon Kyl, has been delaying the ratification of the New Start treaty with Russia– saying the Senate has “higher priorities” in this lame duck session than nuclear treaty.

What could be a higher priority than national security and the control of nuclear proliferation? Tax cuts for the rich, of course. From the Arizona Daily Star:

Kyl denied there was any partisanship behind his calls for a delay. He said the Senate has more urgent business to attend to in the weeks before it breaks for Christmas, including dealing with potential tax increases and funding the government through the rest of the budget year…

Without [ratification of the treat], as of next week the U.S. will have had no weapons inspectors in Russia to verify cuts in its nuclear arsenal since the last treaty expired in 2009.

This is politics as usual from Arizona’s 2 Senators. They’re not taking care of business; they’re grandstanding in the media to pump up the importance of their largest patron– the military industrial complex. When the Congress starts talking about budget cuts next year– if they can make the case for an evil scary world– they can protect the Pentagon budget.

I got an idea, Jon and John, if you really want to deal with the countries budget problems: 1) let the tax cuts sunset; 2) don’t start any new wars; 3) end the ongoing wars; 4) wage peace; 5) invest in the country’s future– rather than investing in destruction.



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  • yayabrotherhood

    Hey, stupid fool. Why don’t you educate yourself on WHY the Senators oppose the current version of START: potentially not verifiable, potential to ban missile defense and modernization of nuclear arsenal.

    Also the other items on the agenda like passing a FEDERAL BUDGET which the demoncratic congress has failed to do.

    http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Key_US_senator_resolute_on_Russia_nuclear_pact_999.html
    “”It is more a view of reality rather than policy,” senator John Kyl told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” calling for weeks of debate on the details of the new START arms reduction treaty.
    Obama has repeatedly called on senators to quickly ratify the treaty, warning that failure to approve it would result in serious consequences for the country’s security.
    Kyl noted that Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid is likely to use the final weeks of the year to finalize government spending bills and hammer out a compromise on taxes.”

    Gee, who is the leader of the Senate and sets the agenda? Hey, Isn’t Obama the one that was pushing a space weapons treaty that would have banned GPS?

  • yayabrotherhood

    “4) wage peace”

    I see you have gotten one of those new Marijuana prescriptions.

  • leftfield

    This is tangetial, but I think relevant:  Hooray for WikiLeaks!

  • http://www.facebook.com/pages/Three-Sonorans/144198198931412 Three Sonorans

    Your opening quote was actually said by Randy Parraz during a debate (the first one actually).
     
    Rodney Glassman used it a few times afterwards, and said “one of my former candidate colleagues said…”
     
    I think this also marks the first time Glassman actually cited a source!

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  • ruauper2

    Gee, I can’t wait forMcCain to push the new Congress into the need for a war RIGHT now with North Korea. While he’s diverting our attention to such an assinine undertaking Kyl will be busily pushing more earmarks and explaining why we should extend the tax breaks so the rich become richer and the rest of us sacrifice to pay for their added riches.

    • Pamela Powers

      Yes, you got the picture. We have to make sure the rich stay rich and the military-industrial complex stays fully funded– even if the middle class disappears, and we become a country of uneducated, overly religious, and unhealthy dolts who can’t afford to own a home.  After all, we also must avoid socialism (ooooo, spooky) at all costs.
       
      Canada, watch out– here come the undocumented economic refugees from the south (ie, from the US, not Mexico).

      • Cruz

        Let’s all sit in a circle and pass the peace pipe around, after reading what you wrote I see you got the jump on the rest of us.

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The Tucson Progressive

Pamela Powers Hannley writes the Tucson Progressive blog on the TucsonCitizen.com and contributes articles to the Huffington Post and Salon.com. She has had more than 30 years of experience in written, visual, and electronic communication—including freelance writing, photography, graphic design, and consulting. In addition to blogging for the Citizen, she is the Managing Editor of an international medical research journal.

Hannley has authored medical research articles, print magazine and newspaper stories, and numerous cancer prevention and self-help publications.

She has been a blogger since 2006, joined the ranks of Tucson Citizen bloggers in October 2010, and started contributing to the Huffington Post in 2011 and to Salon.com in 2012.

Hannley holds a masters’ degree in public health from The University of Arizona and a bachelors’ degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a native of Amherst, Ohio but has lived in Tucson since 1981.